


Still Right Here

by goddamnitkastlewrites



Series: Damn The Dark, Damn The Light [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 02:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15208577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddamnitkastlewrites/pseuds/goddamnitkastlewrites
Summary: This was my gift to @kastlenetwork for @carry-the-sky's Kastle Fic/Art Exchange event. I wrote small, loosely connected ficlets of a vampire Kastle AU. This series is titled "Damn The Dark, Damn The Light". The description is below:"A vampiric like plague sweeps the United States and New York City is at the center of it. No one knows its origins and the country has plunged into chaos. Frank Castle is one of the early victims. He adjusts into this new phase of his life with Karen Page’s help. The symptoms include fast healing abilities (which could lead to immortality but it has yet to be determined), and the no longer required need for sleep. Oh and the need to drink blood. That’s the big one. Despite doctors working fast on a cure, the body count continues to rise and more are infected every day. Claire Temple has developed a sedative that is able to knock the blood suckers out cold. It’s a small piece of hope against momentous odds. Frank vows to keep Karen safe. Unfortunately it’s not enough and she also becomes part of the undead. They escape the madness to the solitude of Long Island. No one knows what the future holds for mankind. For Frank and Karen it’s just them and possible eternity ahead."





	Still Right Here

There’s blood everywhere. Frank’s hand is coated in it and it stains the white tiles of Karen’s bathroom floor.

“Frank, stay with me. Don’t… stop!”

He’s scratching at his shoulder with his free hand, drawing blood. The bruises on his face have faded considerably in the past 20 minutes (turns out the fast healing abilities are real) but he’s clearly weak from lack of nourishment.

“Leave. Just leave me here Karen.”

It’s 3am and Karen is holding a bag of type AB, trying to get Frank to drink it. He stumbled in, fresh from a fight and covered in someone else’s blood. Ever since his attack and his transition into a… vampire? The undead? Whatever this plague was, things between them have been… raw.

“I’m not leaving you Frank. I swear to Christ if you die in my bathroom…”

“I’m dead to you. I know. Your threats don’t mean shit.”

He’s trying to crawl away from her but the distance between the door and the tub is short to say the least. He collapses and takes up the entire length of the floor.

“Frank I know this whole situation is fucked but you need blood. You need it to live now.”

She shakes the blood bag to emphasize her point but it’s useless. He’s staring up directly into the exposed fluorescent bulb in her ceiling, probably blinding himself.

“What have I become?”

Karen swallows, slides down to the floor and leans against the trim of the door.

“You’re still you Frank. Just…”

“If you say different I will smash my head into the corner of your sink.”

“Fucking hell!” Karen screams. She throws the bag and slams her hand against the floor. The bag stays intact but Karen feels the scrapped skin on her knuckles. Tears stream down and the exhaustion of this ordeal finally hits her. The tension starts to die down, the only noise coming from the buzzing of the light and from her.

“God damn it Frank.” she says between shaky breaths.

“It’s hopeless Karen. All I ever done is hurt you. Let you down.”

“How can you say that? You’ve saved my life. You know me better than anyone. Please don’t… don’t leave me. Everyone is gone. Okay? Everyone. Marci. Trish. Foggy. Matt…”

“Matt too?”

“I don’t know. When Elektra was bitten he whisked her… somewhere, I don’t know.”

Frank sits up. He’s still in bad shape but his self inflicted scratches are gone.

“Give it to me.”

Karen follows his gaze to the bag of blood. She tosses it to him and he catches it with surprising ease. He tears it open with his teeth. As Frank drinks the blood drips down his chin, onto his chest. Karen is weirdly unfazed at this and she doesn’t feel like delving into why that is. Frank tosses the empty bag into the tub.

“Do you need more?”

“No.”

“It’s okay if you do. Claire gave me quite a lot…”

“No.”

They sit in silence, the copper smell dominating the air.

“Why do you stay?”

“Frank…”

“I don’t know what I did. Everyone I love is gone and yet… you should be gone too.”

Karen is so tired. Tired of this life that has her fighting for every aspect of it. A war that can never be won. Tired of the wounds from years past and right now that heal too slowly.

She doesn’t answer him. Her tears dry but Karen feels no need to stand up. She doesn’t think she can. She’s about to resign to her new life living in the doorway of her bathroom when Frank gets up. He’s looking better and the bruises are gone.

“I’ll clean the blood up tomorrow. Don’t go in there until I do. Don’t want you to…”

“I get it.”

He doesn’t say anything else and leaves. Eventually Karen gets up and closes the door.

_**I’m still right here. But for how much longer?** _

Karen doesn’t sleep that night. She heads to The Bulletin the next morning, to continue to deal with the carnage.

**Author's Note:**

> "Damn The Dark, Damn The Light" series can he found here:
> 
> https://goddamnitkastle.tumblr.com/tagged/damn-the-dark-damn-the-light


End file.
